It’s only been recently that research has resumed after decades of the hemp plant being illegal in order to protect big pharma. Now that the children of the 1960s and 1970s have grown up and are in charge of things, their personal knowledge that everything they were told about hemp was a lie, and so it is slowly becoming mainstream again as it was in the 19th century.

A simple Google search will reveal thousands of web sites dedicated to the benefits of CBD. Even Jon Huntsman Sr., the richest man in Utah and a devout Mormon, has come out boldly in favor of medical marijuana.

In an article for Fox13, Huntsman said “I’m a very strong advocate for medical marijuana,” Huntsman Sr. said. “I think some folks have it terribly confused with smoking marijuana.”

Huntsman said his support comes from his own needs. For the past 10 years, Huntsman has suffered from Polymyalgia Rheumatica, a disorder that can cause severe shoulder and hip-joint pain.

He’s also a four-time cancer survivor.

“I won’t take the opioids, I’ll take the pain,” Huntsman said of the current treatments.

He said the constipation, and the possibility of kidney or bladder failure, turned him away from opioids entirely.

“It’s really severe pain,” he said. “Sometimes you just want to scream out at night because of joints not working and things just breaking down on you.”

The Utah Patients Coalition is currently pushing for a ballot initiative that would get medicinal marijuana on the 2018 Election ballot. It’s an effort that would require 115,000 signatures.

Many believe The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints could weigh heavy on Utah voters’ minds when that time comes. In the past, the LDS Church has supported bills to launch studies into medicinal marijuana, but when it comes to legalizing it, they’ve shied away from an endorsement, instead saying they will wait for FDA approval.